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Coup de Grace
Author's note: I was inspired to write this short story and didn't know where else to put it so I'll be writing it here, enjoy! Prologue On November 17th, 2015 the Middle East was obliterated by a nuclear was sparked by an Iranian first strike on Israel. The State of Israel responded by firing its own nuclear weapons before being destroyed. The entire region was either destroyed outright by the warheads or covered in radiation, denying access to the regions rich oil supply. Within a month the world depended on the oil reserves controlled by Canada and Russia, and China mobilized to seize control of the oil in the South China Sea. Russian Spetsnaz were sent into Canada and Alaska to sabotage the drilling operations there. The teams succeeded, and the attacks were blamed on terrorists, resulting on world dependence on oil from Russia, China, and Venezuela. Shortly after the loss of Canadian and Alaskan oil, China officially called in the United States debt, while simultaneously launching an invasion of Japan, and supporting a North Korean attack on the south. After the United States was unable to pay back the debt, China seized Hawaii as payment, and the matter was settled for a short time. After the first economic collapse, the United States was forced to drastically scale back the military. Russia took advantage of this, invading Alaska, and reacquiring all former Soviet territory. After the Russian re-acquisition of former Soviet territory the European Union, NATO, and United Nations disbanded. The US government attempted a military offensive to reclaim Alaska, aimed at capturing Anchorage, which was met with complete failure. In retaliation for this, Russian and Chinese bombers carpet bombed the Northeastern portion of the United States, from Norfolk in the south, to Boston in the north, and Pittsburgh in the east. Quebec declares independence from Canada, and both nations soon collapse entirely. Shortly after the carpet bombing of the Northeast United States the American government collapsed completely, leaving everything north of Mexico in anarchy. Chapter 1 Outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Rick raced down Route 1 towards the city, a blinding snowstorm had begun, making it even harder to see in the night, and even with the brights on he could only see three feet ahead of the car. He wasn't worried, when the Russians and Chinese had started their bombing runs it had been in the dead of night, so the roads were mostly clear. Rick had been driving home from the mountains that night, sparing his life and his car. Even when the roads were almost certainly clear, he still couldn't help but feel nervous about the snow, he'd have to find some shelter for the night, or spend another night in his car. Rick sped past the ruins of what used to be a Wawa and he realized he had finally crossed the border into the city. Hopefully when he ventured a little further into the Northeast he would find some shelter and hopefully some supplies. He had heard the rumors about the gangs that patrolled the streets of the city and fought each other over control of more parts of the city, but he was confident he could handle himself. He had been deer hunting up in the mountains, and he still had his Mauser Kar 98k rifle in the trunk of his car, in the passenger seat he had an M16A1 rifle he had taken from a house he had picked through. Both were old weapons, but they were still reliable enough, and ammo was easy to find for both of them. Looking over to the right, Rick picked through the ammo he had for his M16, it was enough for now, but he knew he would have to find more. He thought back to a gun store he had been to a few times before in Frankford, it would be a good place to start. Arriving at the Northeast Philly airport, or what was left of it, Rick made a left, the airport had been deemed a strategically important place, and was bombed more heavily than most targets. He continued driving past the airport and made a right. Fires burned all around the remains of the tarmac, signs that people had settled in the area, but Rick wasn't sure he wanted to chance a meeting with one of them and kept moving at a quicker pace. He turned into an old neighborhood that he knew well, before the collapse he had been good friends with someone from the neighborhood and knew the area well, he would look for shelter here for the night. Before the collapse all the houses had looked the same, the standard design of rowhomes in Philly, post collapse it was even more difficult now that the personal touches people had put on their homes were gone. Rick was shocked to find that the house he was looking for still had the same sticker clinging to the door, and the same car was parked out front of the house, although it was clear it had been stripped for valuable parts and fuel. The biting wind bit into Ricks face as he stepped out of the car, the snow quickly covered the layers of clothes he worse, despite wearing so many, the cold still penetrated deep into his bones. He pulled his hood over his head and hunched over, trying to avoid the worst of the wind and snow on that dark night. Reaching back into the car he retrieved his M16 and checked the magazine. Carefully, Rick climbed the stairs to the front door, they were covered in a thick sheet of ice, making the stairs hard to navigate, but soon the door handle was in front of him. Rick carefully reached out and took hold of the handle, it was unbelievably cold, and frozen in place, but a quick hit with the rifle fixed that. Slowly, Rick opened the door, he stepped inside, closed the door behind him, and looked around. The house was exactly as he remembered it, other than a hole in the roof and a dud bomb laying on the couch from the bombing, the house seemed to have been spared of much looting. Moving farther into the house, Rick turned to approach the stairs that descended into the basement. That was when he noticed the body lying on the floor. The body was his friends little brother. A wound was clearly visible on the side of his head, clearly he had died quickly, and Rick took some small solace in that. He bent over to close the boys still open eyes, and that was when he heard the cock of a gun at the bottom of the stairs. Chapter 2 Northeast Philadelphia The world seemed to stop around Rick, his first thought was to spin around and hope he could get in a lucky shot, but in the narrow staircase his chances of dodging a bullet were slim to none. He dared not move, lest he provoke whoever stood at the bottom of the stairs. "How could I be so stupid?" he thought to himself, wondering how after weeks of staying alert and being so incredibly cautious he made such a huge mistake this time. Was he that desperate to find some shelter for the rest of the night? had it been out of fear of what could have been at the airport? or were the warm memories from before the collapse too alluring to resist? Rick considered this for a moment, but none of that mattered now. Slowly Rick put his gun on the floor and raised both of his hands. He slowly turned his head to the right to get a look at his captor. The man was small, even though he wore several layers of clothes it was obvious that he was small of stature, a scarf was wrapped around the mans entire head, covering everything except the eyes. Rick looked into those eyes for a moment, he considered throwing himself at the man, he was clearly too small to be able to put up a fight, and then in an instant it clicked. The eyes were familiar, and they gave no hint of anger or hatred, but fear, and that was when he noticed the long blonde hair flowing out from the back of the scarf. "Jenna?" Rick called out, afraid that he was mistaken and wold be shot any minute. The figure at the bottom of the stairs looked uncertain for a minute, and for an instant began to lower her weapon, before she quickly jerked it back up. "Take off your hood and ski mask," the figure commanded, "who are you?" she added after a second. Rick carefully removed his hood and mask and looked down at his old friend. "Put them away and put your hands back up," she commanded. Rick tucked the mask into his belt, and swiftly drew the M9 he had concealed there and pointed it at Jenna. "Now who might you be?" he inquired with a grin. The figure looked defeated, and she lowered her rifle to the ground, and began unwrapping the scarf that hid her face from view. She looked back up at him and smiled, "come on Rick, you wouldn't shoot your favorite would you?" "God damnit, Jenna, you know you shouldn't be playing with guns right?" Rick said jokingly, he picked up his rifle, put his pistol back into his belt, and descended the rest of the staircase. Rick let out a soft laugh as Jenna jumped into his arms. "You know, I had a feeling you might show up one of these days," she said warmly. Rick put her down and walked down the short hallway into the room at the back of the basement, "of course I had to come back," he said, "I couldn't forget this, could I?" he said while picking up one of his hoodies he had left at her house the last time he had been there. Jenna rolled her eyes and laughed, for the first time in the weeks since the economic collapse, the bombing of his home, and the collapse of everything he had known his entire life, Rick felt at home again. Chapter 3 Northeast Philadelphia The blizzard had lasted for three days, it was over now, but the air was still unbearably cold. "Is it just me or does it seem colder than usual?" Rick asked Jenna from the other room. "I don't know man, it usually gets pretty fucking cold in February," she answered while slipping on another hoodie to try to stay warm. The temperature had dropped even further in the past few days, and the two had decided to wait out the blizzard in the house. Rick had taken to sleeping with his rifle to keep it from freezing. Thick clouds hung over the earth, making it dim even in the middle of the day. Rick had decided to head for center city, there were rumors that the remnants of the old government had set up their base of operations in the ruins of the comcast center and were gathering an army to regain control of the area. Although their chances of making any difference were slim, it still seemed safer to be under their protection. The only reservation Rick had about heading in that direction was the areas that he would have to travel through to get there, and the rumors about what was happening in the split were bad enough to make him want to turn around and head back up into the mountains. People had started calling the area around where the Delaware and Schuylkill met the Split, and the people that lived in the area had had it worse than most. Depending on which rumors you believed, the people that lived in the Split were either slavers, cannibals, satanists, or a combination of the three. What made the prospect of heading for center city even worse was the three feet of snow the blizzard had left behind, which ruled out taking the car. The two had decided that they would walk to center city, and take shelter at night in houses along the way. "Ready to go?" asked Jenna while she zipped up a jacket. "Let's head out" Rick answered, cradling his rifle, "we should still have a few hours before it gets too dark and cold to move on." The two did not immediately exit the house, since the neighborhood was made up entirely of row homes which were heavily bombed they were able to move between houses without fully exiting one. When they got to the end of the block they stepped outside. The snow made it hard to move, but the two knew that they had to push on. A sudden gust of wind took the two unaware, and they shivered before the freezing cold. The wind penetrated all their layers of clothing and left them chilled to the bone. Rick could only imagine how cold it must be out on the tamac in the airport. They made it a block before one of them tripped. Jenna fell face first into the snow, and quickly shot back up, cursing the cold and the snow and whatever it was that made her trip. After another three blocks, and countless falls for the both of them, Rick sat down in the snow. "There has to be a better way to do this," he said to no one in particular. "Well unless you have a couple pairs of snow shoes in your ass I don't think there's anything we can do," Jenna said. She stopped, turned around and frowned before sitting down in the snow facing Rick. "I have an idea," Rick said, and took off toward a pile of rubble that used to be someone's home. Jenna followed close behind him, and he bent down to retrieve several pieces of a shattered wood door. "It's a good thing these boots are so big on us," he said as he thought of an idea. After searching through the rubble for a few moments Rick was able to find eight nails and a rock. He drove the nails through the bottoms of the boots through the wood, attaching the wood to the bottom of their boots. They were crude, but they would work for a time to keep the two moving. The two kept moving for another two hours before the sun began to sink below the horizon. The two had left the Northeast and were now in North Philly. It was hard to tell with all the snow, and since the city had been bombed, but Rick thought they were on Broad Street. Regardless of where they were, there was no shortage of shelter here, and the two easily found a place to sleep for the night. Jenna collapsed and went to sleep immediately after they entered the home. Rick scavenged some wood from the remains of the house and made a small pile in the middle of the house. He went back outside and managed to collect some gas from a car that was half buried in snow, he was thankful it hadn't frozen. Rick poured the little gas he had onto the wood and pulled his lighter out from his coat pocket. The lighter was large, almost as large as his hand. It was a dull gray color, except for on the side where it had a Prussian Eagle emblazoned upon it. Rick studied the eagle for a moment and smiled. He lit the fire and leaned back against the wall behind him. Staring into the fire, he quickly fell into a deep sleep. Chapter 4 Frankford, North Philadelphia Rick awoke to the sound of gunfire. He bolted up and shouldered his M16, pointing it at the door, but the shots were coming from outside. Across the room Jenna began to wake up. Rick crawled over to the window and peered out. On the street was a smoking humvee, behind it was a second humvee, this one was intact. Government troops were all around the street firing wildly at a row of houses down the street. A shot rang out from that direction and one of the troops fell. The remaining men quickly got behind cover. For a minute there was silence before a gunshot louder than the rest rang out, there was the sound of a bullet piercing metal and a moment later the smoking humvee went up in flames. The commander of the small contingent of troops began barking orders before a bullet struck him in the neck and silenced him. The troops spun around once they realized the shot came from behind them. Another burst of gunfire erupted from a building behind the men and three more fell to the ground. Defeated, the remaining two put their hands up, one began to sob quietly. Three huge men emerged from the building the sniper had been in, they wore long black trench coats and ski masks with skulls painted on the front. The one in the middle held a cleaver stained with blood, the two on either side of him held AK-47s. The two with the rifles approached the two surrendering men and held them at gunpoint, the man in the middle walked up to the dying commander and laughed, before driving his cleaver into the mans throat, severing the head. The man then walked up behind the two surrendering soldiers and kicked them down into the blood soaked snow. He took examined them briefly, and then drew a revolver from inside his coat, he fired a round into one mans head, then delivered a savage blow to the other mans head. "Load him into the back of the truck," he commanded while gesturing at the man he had struck, "and search the surrounding houses, some cowards may have fled." Another dozen or so men emerged after he spoke. Ricks eyes widened at the sound of that, he quickly looked at Jenna, who also looked suddenly worried, she collected the Mauser rifle Rick had given to her and checked to see if it was loaded, it was. Three men walked up the stairs, they stopped short of the door and began breaking it down. Rick and Jenna both raised their rifles toward the door. The first man smashed down the door with the butt of his rifle, Rick squeezed the trigger and his heart sank, the cold had taken its toll on his rifle, the firing mechanism had frozen in the night, Jenna had better luck however, she fired a round at the first man. The bullet hit him in the leg and he fell to the ground screaming. The second and third men charged into the room, Jenna began chambering another round when one of the men walked up and struck her in the jaw, she let out a whimper and fell to the ground. The other man ran over to Rick, Rick swung his rifle as hard as he could at the man, hoping to catch him in the temple with the butt of his gun. But the man was too quick, he ducked under the rifle and charged into Rick, slamming him into the wall. He was unbelievably strong, and picked Rick up and threw him onto the ground, knocking the wind out of him. Rick began to rise before the man kicked him in the cheek as hard as he could, the last thing he heard before he passed out was Jenna screaming as the man picked her up. When Rick awoke he was unsure of where he was. It was obvious that he was moving, but the inside of whatever he was in was pitch black. "Hello?" he said, barely more than a whisper. Then he remembered his lighter and checked to see if he still had it. It was still in his jacket pocket, he drew and lit it. He was in what appeared to be the back of a truck, it was filled with many other people, some alive, some unconscious, some dead, but all looked afraid. Across from Rick was a man wearing the old government uniform, he looked no older than 18. "Where are we?" Rick asked the man. "We're in the back of a tractor trailer heading to the Split," the man answered, he looked close to tears. "How could this happen?" Rick asked angrily, "I had heard the old government had control of most of the city." "Not anymore, we got pushed back, all we have now is a few contingents of troops holding City Hall, the old Art Museum, and 30th Street Station," he said despairingly. The news made Rick almost lose hope, he hoped the report was outdated, or the soldier he was talking to was simply uninformed. Then he realized something, the man had said they were heading to the Split. "You've heard the rumors about the Split, right?" he asked the young soldier. "Of course, everyone has," the boy answered, sounding distant. "Are they true?" Rick asked apprehensively. The boy looked Rick in the eye and then spoke, "you haven't even heard the worst of it," he said, and then began to tremble. Rick looked away from the boy and considered what he said for a moment, then he closed his lighter and put it carefully back into his jacket pocket. Chapter 5 South Philadelphia The truck had arrived at the Split early in the morning. Rick had been grabbed and shoved out the back, he fell to the ground and landed on his knee, the pain shot up his leg, but he wouldn't cry out. He had been surprised to discover that there had been two trucks in the convoy, the one he was in had been carrying only men, the other was filled with only women. Rick lingered for a minute, staring over at the back of the second truck trying to catch a glimpse of Jenna when a man stormed up to him and grabbed him by the hair. "Get moving!" he commanded and dragged Rick a few feet before throwing him to the ground. They were surrounded by rowhomes, not unlike the house he and Jenna had spent the night in at Frankford. Above the rows of houses he could see the tops of the stadiums, the closest one was lit up, and noise could be heard coming from it even from here, despite it still being no later than four in the morning. The women were being herded into a row of houses, while the men were being led toward the stadiums. The snow had frozen hard enough for people to walk on top of it, but occasionally someone would slip, and be kicked by one of the guards in turn. A man wearing a grey hoodie with a bulletproof vest overtop strolled past the line, occasionally picking someone out of the crows, one of the guards would come and take the man off in a different direction. A loud cheer went up from the stadium, accompanied by a red flare arcing into the dark sky. The men arrived at a makeshift shack across the street from the first stadium. The guards ushered them in and took a final head count, when they finished they left, locking the door behind them. The inside of the shack was almost empty, except for a bucket in the corner that let off the foulest smell Rick had ever experienced. One wall had a large blood stain on it, and what appeared to be pieces of brain on the floor, but no one could be sure about what the small bits of frozen bloody mess were. The ceiling consisted of a thick bars running from wall to wall, allowing the men fresh air, but exposing them to the extreme cold, and the snow which had started falling. Chapter 6 South Philadelphia The snow had continued falling for days. By the time it stopped the men inside the shack had almost run out of places to move the snow to, but towards the end Rick was no longer sure it was all snow, more and more it seemed like it was ash falling from the sky. It was during the fourth night when they came back for them. Five men armed with assault rifles and wearing huge coats burst through the door, shouting at the men who had all been sleeping. It couldn't have been any earlier than 5 AM, and the men stumbled out the door still fighting to stay awake. The cold wind quickly chilled Rick to the bone and woke him. He examined the ruins around him, there were at least four or five other shacks scattered around similar to the one he had been confined to. Across the river there was an ominous red glow. Everywhere else was dark, save for the flashlights attached to the guards rifles, the lights pouring out of Citizens Bank Park, and a single light shining off somewhere in what once was the city skyline. In the distance the sound of gunfire broke out. The men were herded toward the stadium in a single file line, a path had been cleared in the snow just wide enough for the line of men and a guard to walk next to them every few feet, making an escape attempt impossible. After an agonizing march the group arrived at the stadium. A quarter of the stadium was completely destroyed by the bombing, and the men were marched through the gap in the wall there. Despite the early hour, the stands that were not destroyed were completely filled. The crows cheered wildly as the men entered the field. Further in the stadium, standing on the pitchers mound was a tall man, he wore sweatpants with combat boots, but nothing else except a hockey mask. His bare chest was covered in scars, in one hand he held a cleaver, and in the other he held a cattle prod. Rick had to wonder where he managed to find a cattle prod in the city. The last of the men had been herded into the stadium when the guards slammed shut a makeshift gate they had constructed around the hole in the stadium. A red flare sailed into the night sky and the man rushed toward the group of prisoners. The first man had gone to his knees and was begging for mercy when the giant arrived at him, he slammed the cattle prod into his throat before ending his pain with a savage blow from his cleaver. The other prisoners scattered all around the stadium, one by one the giant chased them down, navigating the frozen ice that covered the field expertly, never slipping or losing balance. He had cut down half of the prisoners in similarly gruesome ways before a green flare shot into the sky, and he immediately stopped, his cleaver mere inches from another mans temple. The crowd let out a cheer as the giant bellowed out the number of prisoners he had slain. Behind them, the gate was opened and the guards rushed in to seize the surviving prisoners. They were marched back to their shack, on the way Rick couldn't tell if the red glow across the river was the sunrise or what he had already suspected, that Camden was being razed, he assumed it was the latter, as that would explain the ash that had begun to fall along with the snow.